Find a Cycle Buddy

If you are new to infertility or just embarking on fertility treatments, you may not have heard of the "cycle buddy." No, it's not the person you are going to bicycle around town with (even thought you could do that, too!) — it's the woman or women you are going to share you infertility treatment cycle with. Cycle buddies lean on each other and support each other during all stages of treatment, share what's normal and what's not, and calm each other's fears — which is particularly important when you don't know what to expect.

You can have a cycle buddy for intrauterine insemination (IUI) or in vitro fertilization (IVF). In her latest blog, A Story of Friendship, Shana Kurz writes about the friend she made when she moved to a new town who happened to be undergoing fertility treatment, too. The two ended up sharing the ups and downs of an IVF cycle together. Of course, the fear with a cycle buddy is that one will get pregnant and one will not, and Kurz touches on this fear in her blog. (Read more from Shana Kurz here.)

If you don't find a friend in your fertility clinic's waiting room, try the virtual world. You can easily find a cycle buddy at FertileThoughts, one who can help you make the fertility treatment ride a little more enjoyable!

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